Goose Island Fleur 2011

When I was back in Illinois in late June (and again in late July/early August) I took full advantage of the many beers which are not sold out east.  I also cracked out a few bottles I have been saving in the basement.  One of these was a two-year old bottle of Goose Island Fleur, from April 2011.  They stopped making it later that year.

Fleur was sort of an oddity, a “budget sour.”  It wasn’t truly sour, just lightly tart (which is usually all I want in a sour anyway).  It started its life as a Belgian pale ale brewed with hibiscus flowers; after it was done fermenting, Goose blended it with kombucha tea, then bottled it with wild yeast.  Kombucha is a style of tea which naturally has small amounts of the types of bacteria which make sour beer acidic (along with a few other microorganisms), so this added a mild tartness to Fleur.  Despite the small amount of tea blended in, Goose Island made so much Fleur in 2011 that they were Illinois’ largest tea producer for that year (see about three minutes into this video).

When Fleur was fresh, it abounded with tea flavors, primarily flowers.  Within two months, there was a good balance between flowers, fruit flavors, and wild yeast.  By the time it was six months old it was quite dry and delightfully if only mildly funky, and a bit tart as well.  It didn’t change much for the next year.  This was one of my last three bottles, and I’m sad to see it dwindle down—largely because it still tastes excellent.

Fleur looks much the same now as it did when fresh, with one difference: the wild yeast has gone to work so well that it is now more carbonated than it was two years ago.  There was a loud hiss when I popped the cap, and the foam retained extraordinarily well.  It also smells much the same as it did a year ago.  Hints of strawberry and other assorted fruits from the tea mix well with the funk of wild yeast, which smells maybe a smidge stronger than it did a year ago.

There is a greater discrepancy in the flavor, but it is still recognizable as Fleur.  That berry-fruity tea sensation is still present, but it has been joined with stronger herbal/flower notes; almost like a perfume.  The yeast is tangier than in the past, an effect even more exaggerated by the high carbonation.  Tartness is about where it was when I last opened a bottle eight months ago.  I detect the slightest smell of what may be the beginning effects of oxidation.  As a whole, the beer is brighter in flavor than it used to be.

Apart from the potential onset of oxidation, the only downside here is the mouthfeel.  The increasingly aggressive carbonation, beyond what it used to be, has the effect of making the beer feel crisper and lighter than it should, borderline effervescent.  More disappointing, all the delicious flavors don’t linger very long; they slip off the tongue too quickly.  The airiness gives it an unnaturally clean aftertaste.

If anyone reading this has any bottles left over, or if you happen to stumble across a shop that kept them well-stored for the last two years, I would not hesitate to drink them.  What I would not do is buy them and hold onto them for a long time, as the beer seems to be changing.  It may still be tasty and interesting a year from now, but I don’t think it will taste like Fleur.